Valentine's Day at the Ashford Academy
by Miqila
Summary: When two people from different cultures like each other, there are bound to be some misunderstandings. Ask Kallen and Gino if you don't believe me.


**Disclaimer: I do not own Code Geass.**

 **Valentine's Day at the Ashford Academy**

Kallen took deep breaths, trying to calm down her furiously beating heart as she stood in front of the classroom door.

" _This is stupid; I shouldn't be so nervous! It's just chocolate…"_ she thought, holding a neatly wrapped box of Valentine's Day chocolate to her chest _"Why am I even doing this? This kind of stuff is too girly for me anyway…"_

Yet she didn't back down or throw away the chocolate. She considered it as a challenge; something she had to do. And it'd not like it'd be hard; she'd just go in to the class, give the box to Gino and walk to her seat. That was it; it'd be so simple.

…

So why the heck couldn't she do it!? She was a knightmare pilot, the former ace of the black knights! No battle was unbeatable for her! So why did this, this _silly teen girl thing,_ feel so hard!?

" _It's just… hormones. Yeah, just because of hormones. It's just this age"_ Kallen assured herself. She was a person of logic; the only reason she was acting this way was because of the way her body naturally functioned. Yup, definitely.

…Even so, she would wait until the last minute before the teacher arrived. That way she could give Gino the chocolate, get to her seat and not be bothered by him or anyone else right away. Yeah, that was what she had to do.

And that's what she ended up doing; everything went according to the plan. After the class was over she bolted out as fast as she could, which was _not_ in the plan, but she was glad she got out as fast as she did, for it seemed like Gino wanted to talk to her. If he accepted her feelings he'd let her know on White Day, so this must be about her getting rejected, right? She didn't want that to happen in front of the whole class!

She ran, right in to the student council room. Why'd she do that again? It wouldn't take a genius to figure out she was there!

" _Urgh, old habits die hard…"_ she thought with a sigh, sliding down to the floor as she leaned against the wall. If Gino went to look for her this was most likely the first place he'd look from, wasn't it? She should probably move…

"Kallen? What are you doing?" Kallen looked up, seeing the ex-president of the student council staring down at her.

"Milly? Why are you at school?" she asks, surprised. The other girl graduated long ago after all.

"I took a day off and was bored, so I just came to look around" the blond replied "Is Rivalz able to keep the student council running?"

"Oh yeah, he's a natural talent" Kallen said, dusting her skirt as she stood back up "Not that he's any match for you- I don't think anyone ever will."

"Of course not, I'm a legend" Milly said and they both laughed. Then, the blond asked: "So, since it's Valentine's Day, do you and Gino have any plans?"

Kallen's only answer to that was to lean against the wall and sink to the floor again as she muttered something the blond couldn't quite catch. Milly sweat dropped. As fun as it was seeing the tough Kallen acting like a stereotypical teenage girl, this was a bit too much. This was more Shirley or Rivalz -like behavior; it didn't suit the redhead.

"So, what happened?" she asked, hoping that the half ele- ahem, _Japanese_ girl would answer. When Kallen didn't, she pressed: "Who messed up, you or him? C'mon, you can tell good old Milly!"

It took a while, but eventually Kallen answered: "Neither… sort of. I'm just making a too big of a deal out of things."

"What things?" Milly asked, sitting next to her friend "Has he not made any Valentine's Day plans for you guys?"

"Nothing like that; we aren't really even together." Kallen said, fiddling with a loose thread from her skirt, hoping it wouldn't come apart "But… I kind of confessed just now… sort of."

"Oh?" _Now_ Milly was really interested. If she were still at school, this would probably be the biggest news she'd get all month, perhaps even in the whole year. It would've been a scoop "How'd you do it? What did he say?"

"I gave him chocolate… handmade, naturally" was Kallen's reply.

"What?" Milly asked, blinking. Tilting her head to the side, she asked: "How is that a confession?"

"What?" now it was Kallen's turn to ask as she looked at Milly, confused "What do you mean?"

Milly frowned, trying to wrap her mind around it, but failing.

"Okay, so you got him a gift, right?" she asked. Kallen nodded, although she didn't think giving chocolate on Valentine's day really counted as a "gift." It was more… special "And it was chocolate… how is that a confession? Did you put in a card that said "I like you" or something similar?"

This was confusing for Kallen. Did Milly really not know? …No, of course she did, she was Milly. She'd understand if she was talking to Nina or even Rivalz, not that she'd ever talk to him about something like this, but Milly? The girl who loved gossiping about other people's relationships and the like? Something didn't add up here.

"No, there was no card" she answered "Just the box of chocolate neatly wrapped in gift paper."

"…" Milly stared at her before confessing: "I'm sorry Kallen, but I seriously can't follow your line of thought. How is that a confession?"

The girls stared at each other for a long while, until it finally clicked in Kallen's head.

"Oh" she said, covering her face with her hands "Oh God, I'm such an idiot!"

"In what way?" Milly asked. If Kallen had realized why they couldn't understand each other right now, she'd like to know, too, for her curiosity had been piqued.

"It's a Japanese thing!" Kallen shouted, pulling her hair in frustration "In Japan, girls give chocolate to guys on Valentine's Day. For friends too, but a more special one for the one they… like. Then the guys give something in return a month later on White Day, often white chocolate. If the guy returns the girl's feelings, that's when it's shown!"

"So, this was about cultural differences…" Milly mused. That made sense; Kallen was half Ele- Japanese after all. But as far as she knew, Gino was Britannian… "And you're embarrassed about doing something like this? Something feminine?"

Kallen nodded. It hadn't been that long since she abandoned her show of being a weak, well-mannered girl, she had done it for years after all, so she still slipped in to the act from time to time, but this hadn't been something that she had done as an act. It was something she had done as Kouzuki Kallen, not Kallen Stadtfeld.

"Well, I don't think that you need to be too worried" Milly said. Kallen looked up at her, confusion written all over the redhead's face. The blonde smiled, explaining: "Gino _is_ a Britannian like me, no? He probably doesn't even know the meaning of your act and thinks of it as an ordinary gift. He probably won't think much of it despite the fact that it was given on Valentine's Day."

"Oh…" Kallen muttered, sighing in relief. And yet she felt a little disappointed at the same time, too "I suppose you're right."

Milly looked at the younger girl, a sly smile creeping to her face as she asked: "Would you have preferred that he _did_ get it?"

The reaction was instant as Kallen's face reddened, and Milly knew she had hit a jackpot. This would be fun.

"No!" Kallen automatically denied despite knowing that it was no use. The truthful answer would have been "yes" and Milly already knew it.

"We~ll- "the blond started, but was cut off by the door opening. For a split second Kallen was relieved and Milly annoyed for being interrupted, but their emotions were reversed as they saw who exactly was at the door.

"I knew you'd be here" Gino said "But I didn't know you had company. I'm not interrupting anything am I? 'Cause if I am I can just come back later."

"No no, I was just leaving" Milly said as she got up. Looking at Kallen, she said: "You'll tell me _everything_ later, won't you Kallen?"

Kallen didn't answer, just glared at the blond. She was glad that the other woman was leaving, not wanting to deal with her now, but now she had to deal with Gino. She ran from the wolf and came face to face with the bear, it seems.

Gino could feel the tension between the two, but was wise enough not to say anything. He didn't want to get caught up in the middle of a cat fight.

"See you later, both of you" Milly said before walking out the door.

"See you" the pair replied, Kallen with clear bitterness and Gino with a little uncomfortable yet curious tone. Then, the man turned his attention to Kallen, who was now standing up and dusting her skirt.

"So, uh… about earlier…" Gino started uncertainly, getting Kallen's full attention. Being unsure like that was not like Gino after all.

"Oh, that was- "she started, but Gino held up a hand, saying: "Please let me finish first."

"…Okay" Kallen said, barely maintaining a calm face. Just what did Gino want to say? Had it been a big mistake to give him that chocolate? Did chocolate have some meaning in his culture that she had failed to catch!? _"Calm down, he could just be allergic… or maybe he just doesn't like chocolate?"_

She was certainly starting to hope so.

"Well you see, I opened this- "he held out the box of chocolate, no longer looking Kallen in the eyes "And it took me a while to put two and two together, but uh… does it mean what I think it means?"

" _Uh oh, did I really miss some Britannian cultural custom? No, Milly would've warned me if I did! So_ _,_ _what- "_

"I mean you're half Japanese" Gino continued "And before the country was taken over, wasn't there a custom that women gave chocolate to men in Valentine's Day? Men they liked in a certain way, to be more specific?"

Kallen gaped at him openly, surprised that he knew so much when even Milly, who could be expected to know a lot of romance -related stuff, didn't. How and why did he know?

Unfortunately, Gino took her shocked expression the wrong way. Blushing a deep shade of red, he stuttered: "S-so this wasn't _that_ kind of chocolate? Just ordinary? The book did say that girls sometimes give chocolate to friends too… uuh, I'll just let myself out. Bye!"

Kallen was too stunned to react fast enough and she just watched Gino walk out the door. Blinking once, she realized what had happened and rushed after the boy. Once out the door, she noticed Milly and, surprisingly, Rivalz right outside of it, attempting to look casual. Kallen cast them a glare, but ignored them otherwise. She didn't have time for them; she had to catch up with Gino and clear out the misunderstanding as soon as possible.

"Gino, wait!" she called out as the blond was about to turn around a corner. He did so and Kallen charged ahead at full speed, fearing to lose sight of him. As a result, she ended up running straight in to the blond who had stopped just around the corner.

"Ouch!"

"…Sorry" Gino said as he steadied the stumbling girl. They looked at each other in the eyes before looking away at the same time, awkward. They were silent for a while, until Kallen gathered up her courage.

"It _was_ that kind of chocolate!" she blurted out, blushing "It's just that I just found out it's only a Japanese thing, that people don't do that in Britannia, so I was surprised that you knew what it meant."

"Okay" Gino said, also blushing a little as he realized he had jumped to conclusions "I only knew because I've been reading some old books about Japanese culture recently… it was just luck that I happened to remember that part."

"Why did you do that? Despite the laws having been changed I'm sure it's frowned upon" Kallen asked. Gino nodded, but said: "I thought it'd help me understand you better."

Coughing awkwardly, Gino continued: "And I suppose it did, or at least would have if I wasn't so fast to jump to conclusions."

Kallen laughed at this.

"It happens to all of us sometimes." she said. They stood in awkward silence again, neither really knowing what to say. Kallen now knew that Gino knew of her feelings and was eager to hear his response, but didn't want to ask so that she wouldn't seem so pushy. Gino himself was wondering how he should tell his own feelings.

"I don't really know how this is supposed to go, but" he suddenly started, boldly looking Kallen in the eyes "But I… accept your feelings. I feel the same way."

Kallen was happy to hear this. Super embarrassed, especially since she heard it in the middle of the school hallway, but happy. Even so, she didn't know what she should say in a situation like this. But maybe words weren't needed, she realized as they both started to slowly lean towards each other, controlled by instinct alone. Kallen saw Gino's eyes close and did the same with her own. They were only inches apart, getting closer to each other-

"Aaw!" the sudden noise, followed by a sharp "Shh!" snapped the pairs eyes open as they jerked away from each other. Rounding a corner as one, they spotted sheepish Rivalz who was getting a frustrated look from Milly.

Eavesdroppers.

"You two- "the angering redhead started, but was cut off by Milly: "It'd be nice to stay and talk to you guys, but I have to head back to work. See ya!"

With that she dashed off. Realizing the danger he was in, Rivalz followed Milly's example: "And I have to get to class, so see ya!" and dashed off. The duo, perhaps soon to be couple, stared after them before looking at each other.

"Wanna chase after them?"

"Hell yeah!" Kallen answered with a grin, rolling up her sleeves "They better hope they're fast on their feet!"

 **A.N: Happy Valentine's Day! So, Kallen and Gino, very shippable if you ask me. My other couple option was Suzaku and Lelouch, but I felt like these two fit better for this idea… but now that I think of it, Ohgi and Vinetta (Viletta?) would've probably been interesting, too. Maybe next year?**


End file.
